On February 21, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman ruled that New York
ballot access procedures for district office are so difficult as to be
unconstitutional. Rockefeller v Powers, 95-cv-4478. The decision
was welcome, but no surprise, because last November, Judge Korman had also ruled
them unconstitutional, on equal protection grounds.

Korman's equal protection ruling had been overturned last December by the
U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd circuit.

But on February 28, a different panel of the 2nd circuit affirmed the
Korman ruling of February 21. On February 29, the 2nd circuit released its own
opinion (no. 96-7173), agreeing with Korman that petition requirements of 1,250
signatures or 5% of the number of eligible signers (whichever is less) are so
difficult that they are unconstitutional, given the short 37-day time frame in
which to collect them, and the hypertechnical procedures required for all New
York petitions.

It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of the ruling. Although the
plaintiffs were suing over the procedures for Republican presidential primary
ballot access, those procedures are not fundamentally different from New York
procedures for unqualified party and independent candidates (for district
office), and the New York legislature is now likely to improve all ballot access
procedures, not just procedures for the Republican presidential primary.

The concrete effect of the decision is that Steve Forbes will be on the
primary ballot throughout the state, and Pat Buchanan will be on in most of the
state.

Bob Dole had already qualified; no other Republicans had even attempted to
qualify, and it is too late for any others to take advantage of the ruling. The
New York primary is March 7.

In the aftermath of the ruling, Governor George Pataki and U.S. Senator
Alfonso D'Amato, who had previously defended the state's difficult procedures,
now say they have no disagreement with the idea of easing ballot access.

On February 7, federal judge Charles Kocoras, a Carter appointee, upheld
Illinois petition procedures for new party candidates for the U.S. House of
Representatives. Libertarian Party of Illinois v Rednour, 95 C
6456.

Illinois requires a petition signed by 5% of the last vote cast, to be
completed in 90 days. Ironically, the number of signatures needed for a new
party to qualify a candidate for the U.S. House in all Illinois districts in
1996 is approximately 155,000 signatures, far more onerous than the 36,000
signatures needed to qualify a Republican presidential candidate for the New
York state presidential primary (see preceding story), yet the Illinois
requirements were upheld, while the New York ones were invalidated.

The Libertarian Party plans to appeal to the 7th circuit. The party had
argued that the 5% standard is unconstitutional, under the U.S. Supreme Court
1995 decision U.S. Term Limits v Thornton, which said that states
may have "procedures" to regulate ballot access for the purpose of orderly
elections, but that if these procedures discriminate against a class of
candidates (for Congress), then they are "qualifications" and are forbidden.

Judge Kocoras appeared not to have read any of the plaintiff's arguments or
evidence.

He simply asserted that the 5% petition is needed to insure that the election
administration process is orderly, without acknowledging any of the evidence
rebutting this. His decision is only 10 pages long.

Korcoras failed to even acknowledge another argument, which was that since
Illinois doesn't require 5% petitions for Congress in years after
reapportionment, therefore the state doesn't need 5% petitions in other election
years either.

The Libertarian Party had also argued that, since the state already
recognizes that it is a qualified party for statewide office, it is absurd that
the state shouldn't recognize it for all partisan office within the state.
Korcoras responded "If the Libertarians were established across the board for
all races, there would be many empty slots and voter confusion would be
increased. Illinois has an interest in keeping the ballot uncluttered and easy
to understand". He ignored evidence which showed that the number of candidates
on the November ballot for legislature is typically 1.7 candidates per seat. He
failed to acknowledge any state interest in giving the voters a choice among
candidates.

On February 20, the Committee for Party Renewal filed an amicus curiae
brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, supporting the Libertarian Party's appeal in
its North Carolina lawsuit. This is the first time the Committee, or any group
of political scientists, have asked the Supreme Court to hear a ballot case
brought by a third party.

The Court will probably announce in April whether it will hear the case,
which challenges the 10% vote requirement for a party to remain qualified, as
well as a law which forbids voters from registering as members of unqualified
parties.

On February 20, Arkansas rejected the Reform Party petition. If it had
succeeded, the Reform Party would have been the first political party that ever
qualified for the ballot by petition, in Arkansas history.

Arkansas requires 21,506 signatures, due in January. The party turned in
31,000 signatures, but Arkansas says it only turned in 28,000 and that only
17,000 are valid. The party says the state lost 64 petition sheets. The party
also says that it would have qualified, if the state had kept its promise to let
the party have an additional thirty days to supplement its petition, if needed.
Finally, the party points out that it probably would have qualified except that
Arkansas purged its voter registration list in January, just before checking the
petitions.

The Reform Party has the option of suing Arkansas over its early petition
deadline, if it is willing to submit another 4,000 valid signatures. The old
party petition deadline of April was declared unconstitutionally early in 1977
in American Party of Arkansas v Jernigan. The state then changed
the deadline to May, but in 1987 it changed it back to January, in complete
defiance of the court ruling.

1. Maine: the party's lawsuit to get on the ballot seems likely to
succeed. Some of the town clerks who were sued, are already offering to validate
additional signatures.

2. Ohio: the party says it has found enough signatures which were
improperly invalidated, to be on the ballot. However, some ex-members of United
We Stand America, who oppose the party, have charged that some of the signatures
which the state originally validated, are invalid, because (according to the
allegations) some of the petitioners were not bona fide Ohio residents.
The matter will probably end up in court.

3. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ross Perot is willing
to be the party's stand-in presidential candidate, in those states in which a
candidate must be listed on petitions.

1. Florida: on February 7, the State Supreme Court announced that it
will not hear the lawsuit Libertarian Party of Florida v Smith,
95-547, over whether the 3% petition requirement violates the state
Constitution.

2. Georgia: on February 13, a request for a rehearing was filed in the
11th circuit in Chandler v Miller, 95-8230, over whether the state
may require all candidates for state office to pass a test for illegal drug use.

3. Oklahoma: the U.S. Taxpayers Party is about to file a lawsuit,
charging that Oklahoma's strict ballot access laws for federal office, violate
Article I of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit, to be filed in federal court,
will depend on last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision U.S. Term Limits v
Thornton.

4. Texas: on Nov. 27, 1995, a federal judge struck down Texas law
which makes it illegal for a voter to possess any written communication (other
than something which the voter himself or herself prepared) while in the voting
booth. Cotham v Garza, 905 F. Supp. 389 (Sou. Dist.)

5. Virginia: on Oct. 30, 1995, a federal judge struck down Virginia
law which makes it illegal for anyone to produce anonymous writings expressing
an opinion about any candidate or any referendum. Virginia Society for
Human Life v Caldwell, 906 F. Supp. 1071 (Western Dist.)

On January 11, the Federal Election Commission ruled that if someone seeking
the presidential nomination of a minor party qualifies for matching funds, the
candidate can use the money to help qualify his or her party for the general
election ballot, in states in which it is not already qualified. Advisory Op.
1995-45. The ruling had been requested by John Hagelin, who is seeking the
Natural Law Party presidential nomination. Hagelin will probably be the only
third party candidate this year to actually receive primary season matching
funds.

Harry Browne, who is seeking the Libertarian nomination, recently requested
an advisory opinion from the FEC as to how he can submit proof that he has
qualified for primary season matching funds, and yet not actually receive the
money. He is conscientiously opposed to taking tax money for his campaign. The
FEC has not yet answered the question.

The Texas Secretary of State has revised the petition form for new parties,
so that it now reads, in large type: "This Statement MUST be read to each person
before signing the petition. 'I know that the purpose of this petition is to
entitle the (blank) party to have its nominees placed on the ballot in the
general election for state and county officers. I have not voted in a primary
election or participated in a convention of another party during this voting
year, and I understand that I become ineligible to do so by signing this
petition. I understand that signing more than one petition to entitle a party to
have its nominees placed on the general election ballot in the same election is
prohibited.'" (capital letters in original).

Anyone who has ever petitioned, knows that speed is essential. It takes
approximately 25 seconds to read this statement, and will probably become a
substantial impediment to successful petitioning. The Texas Secretary of State
has not added the same language to the independent presidential candidate
petition, but says that if any independent candidate attempts to petition in
Texas, that the language will be added.

Herb Titus, general counsel to the U.S. Taxpayers Party, believes that there
is no authority in Texas law to require that each petitioner read this lengthy
statement, and hopes to persuade Texas to delete or shrink the instruction.

Arizona and South Dakota did not hold Democratic presidential primaries.

President Clinton refused to file in the North Dakota Democratic primary
because the primary violates national party rules: it is too early, and it
permits non-Democrats to vote in the Democratic primary.

The Libertarian Party is entitled to a presidential primary in Delaware, but
no Libertarian was able to get on that ballot. Delaware required that candidates
either be qualified for matching funds, or submit 500 signatures of party
members. Later, after it was too late to submit petitions, the state lowered the
requirement to 300, to accommodate Alan Keyes, who had submitted approximately
400 signatures to be on the Republican primary ballot.

1. Alabama: on February 9, Alabama attempted to answer the U.S.
Justice Department's questions, concerning why it tripled the number of
signatures needed for new parties and non-presidential independent candidates,
last year. If the U.S. Justice Department is not satisfied with the answers, it
may veto the 1995 signature increase.

Alabama refused to answer some of the questions, saying it was too difficult
to do the research. For example, the state made no attempt to learn how many
third party and independent candidates on the ballot in the last decade were
black.

2. California: AB 2098, by Assemblyman Dominic Cortese, would set
forth Reform Party rules in the election code. The bill is surprising, since in
1989 the U.S. Supreme Court said that states have no authority to write party
rules into law. Cortese is a Reform Party member.

3. Florida: HB 845, a massive bill amending hundreds of election laws,
would permit an unqualified party to circulate its presidential petition, before
it knows who its presidential candidate will be. Unfortunately, it also raises
the fee for checking a signature on a third party petition from 10 cents, to one
dollar, even though in 1992 the 11th circuit ruled that it is unconstitutional
for the state to charge for this at all.

4. Iowa: Two good bills are pending. HF 2387 would let unqualified
parties use stand-in candidates on their petitions. SF 2047 would let voters
register into any party, whether it is qualified or not. There has been no
qualified third party in Iowa since 1970, so for the last quarter century,
Iowans have not been permitted to register into any party but the Democratic and
Republican Parties.

5. Maine: LD 1461, signed into law on July 3, 1995, and not noted
previously by B.A.N., moves the Maine independent candidate
deadline from early June, to late May. Maine already had the second earliest
independent presidential petition deadline in the nation, and now it is even
more restrictive.

6. Kansas: SB 543, signed into law on February 12, abolished the
presidential primary for this year.

7. Maryland: SB 330, which vastly liberalizes Maryland ballot access
laws for third parties and independent candidates, had a hearing on Feb. 29 in
the Senate Elections Committee. The Committee will vote any day now, and is
expected to pass the bill overwhelmingly.

8. Michigan: HB 4242, which was signed into law Jan. 4, makes it
illegal for any local governmental body to appoint anyone to the position of
election inspector (polling place official), unless the appointee is a member of
one of the two parties which polled the largest number of votes for Secretary of
State at the last election.

Michigan does not provide for voters to indicate party membership, on voter
registration forms. How, then, can this law be enforced? The law says that local
officials should monitor whether the appointee has made "documented public
statements specifically supporting by name another political party or its
candidates"!

Michigan (2): HB 4794 passed the House Elections Committee on Feb. 20.
It authorizes a very limited experiment, for putting "None of the above" on
primary ballots. Specifically, it authorizes "NOTA" to be placed on the 1996
primary ballot in just one particular legislative district, the district
represented by the bill's author.

9. Missouri: HB 845 would make it illegal for anyone to pay someone
else to circulate an initiative petition, if the payment was on a per signature
basis. It has not advanced.

10. New Hampshire: HB 1161 passed the House on February 21. It would
create, for the first time in this state, a petition procedure by which a new
party could qualify itself as a political party. The petition would not name any
candidates. The petition would need signatures equal to 3% of the last vote for
Governor, and be due in July. If the bill passes, the Reform Party is likely to
make use of the new procedure.

11. North Carolina: members of the Election Committees of both houses
heard testimony on March 5, on why ballot access should be eased.

12. South Dakota: SB 106, which would move the presidential primary
from February, back to June, has passed both houses, and is in a conference
committee.

1. Nebraska: the only entry in the Libertarian primary in May will be
Harry Browne. Nebraska law automatically puts candidates on presidential primary
ballots if they are discussed in the media. The Secretary of State used a LEXIS
search to determine which names to list, and Browne was the only Libertarian
whose name appeared in newspapers often enough to satisfy the state.

2. New Mexico: the Green Party will have a contest in its presidential
primary between Ralph Nader and Mary Cal Hollis. Hollis is also the Socialist
Party nominee.

Republican presidential hopeful Lamar Alexander failed to submit 2,000
signatures to appear on the Pennsylvania Republican primary. He turned in only
1,500, and thus will not appear in Pennsylvania's primary.

Green is on in Ak, Ca, Me, NM, Or, and has 4,500 in Hi. Socialist Equality
has *4,000 in Mich. Other nationally-organized parties on: Grassrts in
Vt.; New Pty in Wis.; Socialist in Ore & Vt; Wrkrs Wrld in Mich; Prohi. in
Tn. "FULL PARTY REQ." is a procedure by which a new party can qualify before it
chooses candidates; not every state has such a procedure. "Maybe On" in Reform
Party column means there is a qualified party which may join. * -- entry
changed since last issue.

On February 12, the Workers League, through its newspaper, The
International Workers Bulletin, announced its presidential ticket for
1996, and further announced that it will campaign under a new party name:
Socialist Equality Party. The Workers League was formed in 1966 and has been
running candidates for public office since 1974. It can be reached at PO Bx
48377, Oak Park MI 48237, (810)-967-2924.

The Socialist Equality candidate for president is Jerry White, 36, of
Detroit, Michigan. He has been a teamster and political organizer. The
vice-presidential candidate is Fred Mazelis, 54, of New York city; he also ran
for vice-president for the Workers League in 1992.

On February 22-23, the American Party held its national convention in
Wichita, Kansas, and nominated Diane Beall Templin for president and Gary Van
Horn for vice-president. Delegates from ten states attended.

Templin, 44, is a lawyer and water aerobics instructor, and has helped rear
67 foster children as well as her own children. Her campaign can be reached at
1016 Circle Dr., Escondido Ca 92025, (619) 480-0428. She is also seeking the
presidential nomination of the Reform Party and the U.S. Taxpayers Party. Last
December she was the only person who attempted to petition her way onto the
presidential primary ballot of the Reform Party in California, but she only
obtained 1,100 of the needed 1,250 signatures of Reform Party registrants. No
one actually qualified to run in the Reform Party's presidential primary in
California and no such primary will be held.

Van Horn, 60, is an engineer in Utah, and was the American Party's candidate
for U.S. Senate in 1994.

Charles E. Collins, of Forsyth, Georgia, has been seeking the Republican
presidential nomination, and had already qualified for Republican presidential
primary ballots in California, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Texas. However, the Republican National
Committee refused to acknowledge him as a "legitimate" candidate, and he had
been barred from all Republican debates.

Last month, he announced that he is abandoning the Republican Party, and will
try to qualify as an independent candidate. He can be reached at Bx 27, Forsyth
GA 31029, 1-800-994-8322. He has not yet chosen a running mate.

Collins' independent bid was endorsed by the national C.U.R.E. meeting held
in Wichita, Kansas, on February 20. C.U.R.E. is an ad hoc group headed by
former Arizona Republican Governor Evan Mechem, formed to nominate an
independent candidate for president who would do away with the War Powers Act,
withdraw from the U.N., NAFTA and GATT, and abolish the federal reserve.

The C.U.R.E. endorsement vote was: Collins 136, State Senator Don Rogers of
California 68, John Yiamouyiannas 25, others or abstain 17. Since C.U.R.E. is
not a political party and not an actual organization, it is not clear that
C.U.R.E.'s endorsement is of any practical use to getting Collins on November
ballots.

The Feb. 7
B.A.N. carried recent registration data for states which have
released it. Since then, two more states have released new data: New Hampshire
reports 285,042 Republicans, 209,188 Democrats, 3,478 Libertarians, and 190,657
independent and miscellaneous. South Dakota reports 211,896 Republicans, 173,348
Democrats, 553 Libertarians, 123 miscellaneous, and 43,508 independents.